Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 14:12:12 GMT -8
Bri runs down the road, the impact of her feet on the concrete sending little shocks up her legs. Her red hair is tied back in a braid to keep it out of her face, her shoulder bag slams against her hip. Down the side walk, she turns a corner and emerges on a little dock overlooking the water. She pulls herself up onto a stone wall dropping into the ocean far below, dangling her feet over the edge.
The road behind her winds up the hill in the English country side to the college she's attending. The college itself his quite grand, but the town isn't much to look at. A collection of little shops and houses an hour away from any real civilization. However, Bri's from Ohio so she's used to this sort of nothing-of-interest-ever-happens-here setting. The road ends in a round about with a fountain set in the middle, an old ice cream vendor shouts out the daily special somewhere behind her.
She closes her eyes, breathing in the salty, early-autumn air. Somewhere, fathoms below her, Knucker is off hunting for his lunch. He's taken a liking to dolphins lately, much to her dismay. She's always loved dolphins.
She's only been at the college for four months and already Knucker's huge, roughly the length of a school bus. Hard to believe only a short while ago he was small enough to fit inside a toilet bowl, she laughs at the memory. She runs a finger over her palm, staring at the mark. Like always when she thinks of Knucker, her thoughts drift to the Luck Dragon. Why was she chosen as special? What are they supposed to be doing? And who are the other three people? She wants to talk to Knucker about it, but they can't see each other until night fall. She lives in fear that someone will spot him lurking in the water just off the coast and he'll be hunted down like so many other dragons before him. She sets her bag down behind her, stretching out to lay out on the wall, a small part of her knows she should be getting back to the little room she shares with two other girls to do some homework, but she squashes that mental voice and prays she doesn't loose her balance and fall into the ocean.
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Post by Jeremy Silcith on Apr 8, 2010 15:52:06 GMT -8
They had left the college this day, ditching the last class (History) to come for a fly together. Jeremy was nestled at the top of Kinon's head clinging to his small horns and beaming brightly, letting the wind whip his short ear length hair around his face. He let out a joyous laugh and leaned forward as Kinon leveled out with an amused grunt. Jeremy crossed his arms between the two large horns and lay his head on them with a sigh.
"This is nice." he said contentedly, cracking open one eye to grin at Kinon, though the dragon couldn't see.
"Mhmm, yes. We haven't spent this much time together in weeks. I've missed our flights." the voice was slow and calm in Jeremy's head.
"So where are we now? We left Ireland awhile ago, what are we over now?" Jeremy straightened a bit and peered around a horn at the land mass in front of him.
"Oh I don't know. Perhaps... England you call it right?" Jeremy mused on this and shrugged, patting Kinon's head. He contented himself with a bit of silence as he leaned far over Kinon's head to look at the glittering blue water. "Hey look at that!" he laughed brightly and pointed down at a dark shape in the water. "A whale?" "Mmm.. or a water dragon." Jeremy brightened a bit. "Oh I know them. My dad taught me about them." A snort came from Kinon and Jeremy absentmindedly patted his neck, leaning farther over, one hand holding onto the horn as he leaned.
"Hey do you thin-" "Be careful. You'll fall Jeremy." Oh I'm fine. Do you think that it's anyone you've met lately?" "I haven't met a water dragon since that spat in the Loch Ness over summer vacation." a bitter tone flavored the voice in Jeremy's head. "Oh... ok then but do you-"
A gust of wind buffeted them and Kinon flared his wings to slow their movement and compensate. The jostling effect these movements had caused Jeremy to jerk and his hand to slip from the horn. He fell. Down towards the sea.
"Kinon!" The Air dragon swore in his head (a few new swears that Jeremy hadn't taught him or heard before) and dove, serpentine body streaming out, wings flattening on either side. Jeremy cursed himself for the mistake and closed his eyes as he plummeted towards the ground. There wasn't much for him to do, he couldn't fly, he couldn't do anything except fall and pray that Kinon would catch him.
"Hold on Jeremy you dumb brain." the snarl was quick and angry in his head.
A small part of his brain was moving quickly, despite the fear that locked down the rest of his functions. Adrenaline raced, his eyes opened and he worried that they were moving down too fast, too close to shore. Someone might see them. He shut his eyes tight, water racing up and that's when long claws wound their way around him and pulled him in close.
"Too close to the water. We're going to have to submerge, stay still, hold your breath and hold tight." The words were fast as Kinon gripped him tightly in his two arms, holding him against a soft scaled chest.
The dragon began to wind his serpentine body around and around, coiling it up around his arms to better protect his foolish human. Within five seconds the dragon had gone from arrow straight to bowling ball curled. Two seconds later they hit, sending up an explosion of water as they tore downwards, the water slowing their decent. None the less the air exploded from Jeremy and Kinon's lungs.
"Ow..." Kinon's voice was small and pained. Jeremy would have repeated the sentiment but he was too busy sucking in a lungful of water and trying to escape from Kinon's coiled grip. "Air. Oh God Kinon!" But Kinon was warring with his own lungs, having sucked in his own lungful of water. He uncoiled quickly and as they touched the bottom of the sea he used his small legs and powerful tail to shove his (already rising) body upwards.
"I hate you." Jeremy would have laughed if his world wasn't slowly turning black. "I love you too." he managed.
(Yay for dramatic entrance and almost killing my characters <3)
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Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 16:52:14 GMT -8
"Don't look now but I think an air dragon just crash landed in front of you." Knucker's voice cut of Bri's musings, and she scowled down at the water where she could see him floating, just below the surface.
"Wouldn't have figured that out without your help!" She called down to the surface. "Do you think they're ok?"
"Jump down, we'll go see."
"Someone will see me!"
"We could leave them to die then, if you'd like."
Bri felt a twinge of guilt and set her bag down on the other side of the wall, glancing around to make sure no one was there. The street behind her was deserted. She kicked off her shoes, setting them on the wall and, closing her eyes, threw herself forward towards the water.
The fall took only seconds, she canon balled in, bubbles flying around her. When her vision cleared she saw Knucker floating in front of her, giving her a look of dragonish amusement. She kicked forward, taking a deep breath of water, and grabbed one of the spines on his back, just above the shoulder blade. He kicked off, flitting easily through the water, Bri pressed flat against his back.
There, in the water before them, floated a long, horned dragon, wrapped tightly around what looked to be an unconscious human, rising rapidly towards the surface. Knucker kicked over as the dragon broke the surface, raising his head above the water like a periscope. Bri clambered up to cling to the top of his head, shaking her hair out of her eyes.
"The dive itself was a little sloppy, but I'd give the cannon ball style entrance a solid ten." Knucker informed the other dragon, sounding amused.
"Knucker!" Bri exclaimed, smacking the top of his head, "You can't rate people when they're drowning. It's rude."
"You want to hear rude? You should have heard some of the curse words he let out while they were falling. I'm impressed."
"Knucker." Bri gave an exasperated snort, "Swim closer, I don't think the boys okay." Knucker obliged, kicking closer to the pair.
"Need any assistance?" He asked, doing his best to sound polite to avoid starting Bri scolding again.
Bri glanced down at the boy, and as she did something on her hand caught her attention, she yelped with surprise. her palm was glowing! Not like it did when she was breathing underwater either, actually glowing like a flashlight.
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Post by Jeremy Silcith on Apr 8, 2010 17:16:50 GMT -8
They breached the surface rapidly after their crash-landing. Kinon's head broke the surface first, coughing and hacking out the water in his lungs. Air whipped around the two of them as the dragon quickly regained his breath, reacting better to nearly drowning than his human had been.
The mark on Kinon's forehead was glowing a steady light blue, standing out from his pale grey scales. Jeremy's forehead was also glowing, the mark half visible through running cover-up. But not even fresh make-up would have been able to hide his brightly glowing mark.
Sopping wet feathered wings flared out on either side. Naturally bouyant Air dragons might be but wet wings were a nightmare to work with. he'd have to swim to shore. But now was not the time to worry about such things. His human was coughing up sea water and he uncoiled from Jeremy quickly (realizing he was almost crushing him in his tight grip.)
As he uncoiled two things happened. First Jeremy proceeded to release his lunch into the sea. And second another dragon made himself known "The dive itself was a little sloppy, but I'd give the cannon ball style entrance a solid ten."
Surprise and shock wound its way into Kinon's expression as he stared, holding a retching, puking human in two clawed hands. He snorted a bit more sea water from his nose and was about to respond when Jeremy made a particularly lung shattering cough and puked up yesterdays breakfast. Kinon's blue eyes went wide as he gave his human a shake. Frail human limbs flopped like a rag doll and Jeremy managed a grown through dry heaves.
"F-f-fuck..." dry heaves and being shaken around made it hard to talk. Kinon heard the curse and lifted Jeremy to his head, tilting it so that he could perk one ear. All the while he kept one blue eye on the visitors.
He had, by this time, noticed the human girl atop the Water Dragon's back. "You want to hear rude? You should have heard some of the curse words he let out while they were falling. I'm impressed."
He snorted at them again as Jeremy groaned. "D-damn." He weakly lifted his head and gave Kinon a grin. "Now that was an adrenaline rush. How about we do it again?"
"You idiot!" Kinon's tail flew out of the water and struck the sea furiously, sending up a fountain of water. He held Jeremy out with stubby legs and then proceeded to yell at the human boy, shaking him after each insult.
"You idiot!" Shake. "You stupid birdbrained human!" Shake. "You sludge ball!" Shake. "You little slime puddle!" Shake. "I'll eat you alive damn it!" Shake, shake.
Apparently the visitors were forgotten.
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Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 17:27:25 GMT -8
Bri blinked at the swear words coming from the kid wrapped in the coils of the air dragon, looking scandalized. She looked even more apalled when the dragon began swearing at his human, she could hear his shouts echoing around inside her head.
"Knucker do something!" She hissed.
"Like what?"
"Stop him from killing his human before his head pops off!" Bri's suggestion trailed off, however, as she noticed something on Jeremy's forehead.
"KNUCKER!" She half screamed, startling the dragon, who flinched, almost throwing her off his head.
"Damn! Give me a heart attack why don't you?
"Don't curse, it's unbecoming. But look! On their foreheads! They match us!"
"Is the kid wearing make-up?"
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Post by Jeremy Silcith on Apr 8, 2010 17:36:32 GMT -8
"I'm going to rip you limb from limb, eat your liver and use your bones as toothpicks!" the last long tirade was said on a growl. The shaking stopped and the dragon stared down at his dazed human.
"T-thanks." Jeremy's eyes were a bit unfocused. "I-i Love you too Kinon." He patted the Dragon's hand gently and smiled, obviously a few brain cells had been knocked loose.
"...You are an idiot." And he hugged the Jeremy tight to his chest, stubby legs squishing Jeremy to him. The air whooshed out of small human lungs and Jeremy lifted a hand to beat on the Dragon's chest frantically. One last squeeze and Kinon held Jeremy up by his shirt collar, two claws pinching the fabric and dangling him in front of their visitors. Jeremy coughed a few times, throat raw and painful.
"Hello." he gave what he hoped was a cheery wave and attempted a smile. The girl, however was staring at him, so was the dragon for that matter. "What are yo-"
'Is the Kid wearing Make-up.'
Jeremy flushed red at that, the color creeping into his cheeks. "I wait... wait..." he floundered a bit, the back of his shirt ripping as he flailed and he plummeted to the sea again with a rather girlish shriek. Kinon caught him in the other hand, turned Jeremy to face him and stared hard at him
"You are glowing."
"I'm not radioactive though! That glowing thing wore off ages ago!" Kinon snorted at this.
"You only glowed for those days because you ate the fungus. And for the last time the fungus was not radioactive." "I ate the fungus because you said it would heal dragons!" "Exactly. Dragons. Not puny humans." I was hurt! I though it would heal me." "Shut up." Kinon placed a pointed claw to Jeremy's forehead and he fell silent. "Your mark is glowing."
That really silenced Jeremy. "Mine... but.. oh.. wait your's is too.. why... how? Wait didn't Gilideth say something about that?" Slowly Jeremy turned to stare at the girl and dragon, looking at them thoughtfully.
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Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 17:49:15 GMT -8
Bri smiled broadly, holding out her glowing palm. "I'm Brianna, Bri for short. This is Knucker. I think we've been looking for you."
"You may not call my Knucker. My name is Xenis."
"We're the water pair, the luck dragon should have mentioned us. He mentioned you! At least in passing. 'You must search out the other seven... your mark will glow when you come near to one of the other seven.' I found Knucker a while ago. You're the air pair!" She grinned her excitement, bouncing up and down on Knucker's head.
"Air pair. Heh. You shoulda looked into a career as a poet."
"I'll get right on that. You could become a toilet brush." "Oh very amusing."
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Post by Jeremy Silcith on Apr 8, 2010 18:58:35 GMT -8
"Brianna. Knucker. Xenis." Kinon shrugged shoulders and curled his tail around his lower legs, dipping it beneath the waves. "I am Kinon. And this flesh bag is Jeremy." That comment received a scowl from said human, still sitting in an outstretched palm. He shifted a bit to sit cross legged and look at Bri. "I'm not a flesh bag" he stated with a sigh. "You are the Water pair?" he mused, head tilting to the side. "Imagine that. We almost fell on top of you." he chuckled and gingerly touched his head, a faint scowl appearing on his thin lips.
Kinon had other things on his mind and if he had had eyebrows he would have raised them. "Toilet brush?" the question was quiet and and those two words conveyed a world of curiosity.
Jeremy lifted his eyebrows instead. "How did you find um.. Knucker was it?" He asked, waving a hand at the elegant water dragon. His curiosity was piqued now and he let his eyes roam over Knucker with curiousity. "I've never actually seen a water dragon up close."
"....Well if you had actually been on time that day you could have seen Nessie you know." the words were filled with annoyance as Kinon spoke.
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Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 19:17:30 GMT -8
"Xenis, little two legger. Xenis. Not Knucker." Knucker corrected,
Bri shifted her seat, sliding down Knuckers neck. to rest just above his shoulders again. "I fell off a cruise ship and sank to the ocean floor. After the initial shock of finding that I wasn't dead, or drowning I decided to swim into a little cave I saw."
"Because that's how intelligent she is. Lucky to be alive? Great, lets go find the nearest accident-waiting-to-happen and try again!"
"Don't interrupt. It's impolite. Knucker's mom let me take the egg and I hid him from my parents in our bathtub for a little while, when mom almost flushed him down the toilet though I decided it was time to move. He spent some time in a lake before we moved here." She smiled at Jeremy and Kinon. "I'd love to know more about you guys." She turned to the dragons, "Want to drop us two-leggeds off on shore to get an ice cream?"
"Only if you bring me a chocolate waffle cone."
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Post by Jeremy Silcith on Apr 8, 2010 19:57:05 GMT -8
"Two Legger?" he chuckled. "That isn't much of an insult my four legged friend. Not when it is a fact of life!" he lifted a soggy shoed foot and wiggled it. "Two legs."
Jeremy couldn't help but laugh then when she described finding Knucker's egg. "Did you know anything at all about dragons?" he asked shaking his head. "You were really lucky to find Knuc- er... Xenis's egg instead of a different mother dragon. These days, with dragons being born so few and far between the mothers have become even more ferocious..." he rubbed his arm a shudder running up his spine before he shook it off.
Kinon snorted. "She wouldn't have killed you." He tilted his head. "Maybe nibbled a hand off but... killed you? No. My mother knew better." Jeremy cast a glare at Kinon before shrugging.
"As for the toilet... just a free water park ride. Unless..." he adopted a horrified look. "You were in there when um... well... someone did their business?" Kinon snorted softly, one hand coming up to scratch at his nose, he attempted to look uninterested in the answer but his blue eyes flashed with amusement and he looked at Knucker.
"Anyway. I could go for some ice cream." Jeremy rubbed his sore throat and winced.
"....Bring me a carton of rocky road." was Kinon's input to the situation. His blue eyes glittered with amusement as he lifted a small stubby hand to his neck, allowing Jeremy to crawl up his scales and to the top of his head where he latched onto Kinon's horns. "What would have happened if you hadn't coiled yourself?" He asked suddenly and Kinon could only roll large eyes.
"You would have been broken in half." he said matter of factly, in an all too cheerful tone.
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Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 20:16:23 GMT -8
Bri shook her head " There's a little dock that's typically not in use this time of night where we swim up. I've gotta run by my place to get some dry clothes and then we'll grab an ice cream cone. Sound like a plan?"
Knucker sank beneath the waves, propelling the pair through the water towards the familiar dock. Knucker stayed well below the waves to avoid detection, so Bri kicked upwards on her one, pulling herself on to the dock, panting slightly, and ringing her wet hair out. "I've gotta get my bag from the wall too." She mused aloud, "If someone stole my wallet I'm blaming Knucker.
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Post by Jeremy Silcith on Apr 8, 2010 20:23:17 GMT -8
Jer nodded to her "Abandoned docks are always good." he smiled a bit and patted Kinon. "Rocky road it is, if I can find any." he chuckled.
"...Mmm Butterfinger is always good too." "You have a horrid sweet tooth." "I do not." He was indignant and he huffed a bit, sliding his body through the water, tucking still wet wings to his body. "You'll rot your fangs." Said fangs were bared in response. "What do you know?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow and shook his head, dropping that topic of conversation. "How long do you think it will take before the college misses us?"
Kinon pulled up to the dock and ducked his head so that Jeremy could hop off. "They probably already do miss you. In a few hours they'll probably contact your dad." Jeremy paled and leaned against Kinon with one hand, steadying himself as he looked up from his spot on the dock.
"Don't... Don't joke about that." he said in a harsh murmur. "I wasn't joking."
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Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 20:31:31 GMT -8
Bri watched them, bringing her eyebrows together with a curious frown. "Where do you go to college? And what happened between you and your Dad? If you don't mind me asking..." She asked the last question in a much quieter voice than the first. There was obviously a story there, but she couldn't wrap her brain around the idea of someone striking so much...fear... in another person. She knew the voice though, Knucker had the same tone when he spoke of dragon hunters. He'd had an encounter with them once, and she hadn't been there to help. Her palms begin to sweat just from the memory.
"Be careful." From the echo in Knucker's mental voice she can tell he's speaking only to her.
She pointed towards the wall, "I left my bag up there. We can go back to my place to get something dry to wear if you'd like... I room with two other girls though, so you might be stuck with..." She racks her brain, trying to remember what semi masculine clothes she has in her closet "A pair of gym shorts and an old concert tee of my dad's." She decides not to mention that the shorts are in her size, so they might be a little short on him...
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Post by Jeremy Silcith on Apr 8, 2010 20:42:23 GMT -8
Dark blue eyes flicked to Brianna and Jeremy heaved a sigh. "It's going to come out sooner or later." he muttered, more to himself than anything. "First. I go to Trinity College. And Second um... Well nothing's happened between me and my father."
"Yet." Kinon interrupted him as he inspected his claws. "I imagine soon though."
Jeremy rubbed at his eyes for a second. "Thank you Kinon... for that.... vote of confidence." a sigh and then he continued. "My father is a... Well he's a dragon hunter. He's probably in somewhere in Hawaii attempting to find Water or Fire Dragons right about now. And, hopefully," he added with a grimace. "He's out of cell range."
Kinon lifted his eyes a bit and shook his head. "He hasn't found out about me yet." he said, head tilting. "We've been extremely.... Lucky." a small, sad smile appeared in his voice and eyes.
"Erm... well I mean dry clothes would be nice. Maybe I could just change and then hang out until mine dry? Have you found any of the others yet?" He asked. "The other four? Or have you come up with any ideas on how to find them?" He shifted a tad uncomfortably.
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Brianna Hollion
Marked
"We are so cool I'm amazed." *gets nailed in head by soccerball* "Oh yeah. That was smooth."
Posts: 86
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Post by Brianna Hollion on Apr 8, 2010 20:59:16 GMT -8
Bri felt her jaw clench nervously and worked to loosen it, "Let's hope." Her voice came out higher than she had meant it, and she cleared her throat. She couldn't help but feel sad, wondering what it would be like to live in fear that your own father would find out about... She cut her thoughts off abruptly. No. She wasn't going to go there. "Sorry." She aplogized, she wasn't sure what for. Maybe just for the brief twinge of anger and fear she had felt at the words 'dragon hunter', I mean, evil as the occupation might be, he was still Jeremy's dad...
"No, we haven't found any of the others yet. Wouldn't know where to start. So far all I've got is a glowing palm. I live up this way" She grabbed her back and shoes from their spot next to the wall and slung it over one shoulder.
They hiked up the hill towards Bri's apartment and she let them in with her spare key, "I apologize for my room mates in advance." She said quietly, flicking on the light. The apartment was small, just a living room with a falling-apart couch, a tiny kitchen big enough for one person, a microwave and a sink and two bedrooms. She led the way to the bedroom she had to herself, pawing around inside her closet before tossing a pair of her old gym shorts and a t-shirt for Owl City in his direction. "I'll grab you a pair of -boxers- from Sara's room. She always has extra." She stammered over the word boxer, feeling as if she had said something dirty. She slipped quickly into the next room, grabbed the boxers off the ex boyfriend pile without looking at them and handed them awkwardly to Jeremy. "Yeah... you can just hang your stuff over the railing. We don't have an actual dryer, so..." She shrugged at the awkward tension, grabbed her clothes from a drawer and hastily retreated.
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